Man in court over murder of Petras Miernykas at Rainham warehouse

A man is due in court today charged with the murder of a lorry driver found dead at a warehouse.

The warehouse where Petras Miernykas was found on Saturday

Petras Miernykas, 49, was discovered with a stab wound at the Seabrook Warehousing building, in New Road, Rainham, at about 9.45pm on Saturday (January 19). He was pronounced dead at the scene.

A post-mortem examination at Queen’s Hospital, Romford, on Monday showed Mr Miernykas, who was originally from Lithuania, died of blood loss.

Ausras Maslovas, also a Lithuanian national and of no fixed address in the UK, was charged yesterday with murder and remanded in custody.

He was today due to appear at Barkingside Magistrates’ Court.

Import and export firm Seabrook declined to comment, but staff at a timber firm next door spoke of their shock at what had happened just metres from their workplace.

Thirty-two-year-old Darren Smith, of Arnold Laver on New Road, said: “I saw all the ambulances and flashing lights but didn’t realise what had happened until I heard it on the news.

“It’s shocking considering it was right on our doorstep. It’s the first time I’ve heard about anything like that around here.

“We want to know what happened because people need to know if they’re safe.

“Growing up I used to go roaming around London on my own, but you couldn’t do that now because it’s changed so much.

“There are young families round here, so having something like this happen is shocking.

“I never thought Rainham was bad like that.”

It’s the second time this stretch of New Road has hit national headlines in the last two years – the Seabrook site is just down the road from the spot where an unidentified baby’s body was found in April 2011.

Did you know Mr Miernykas? Call the newsdesk on 020 8477 3903 or e-mail ramzy.alwakeel@archant.co.uk to leave a tribute.